EQUIPMENT IMPROVEMENTS - 5

Another step: reducing the size of my towel. I simply cut it into two halves and had the edges sewed (thanks for the support!).

Result: reducing the weight from 94g (I used the case with the towel which was nonsense) down to just 32g.

sewing does help reducing weight

EQUIPMENT IMPROVEMENTS - 4

The next one: the headlamp. We discovered that we did not very often had a real need to use a headlamp. It helps if you have to step out the tent during the night, and only once we really needed a light to secure our tent during a storm at night. Therefore some guys take a very minimalist lamp with them which of course does not weight much. But my requirement still is to carry a lamp with me that can be used for signaling in emergency cases. Therefore I'm not fine in stripping down the whole thing that much. Furthermore it should be able to give me at least a couple of hours of light. And as always: it shouldn't be too heavy.


After doing a bit of market research I ended up with the MAMMUT S-LITE headlamp. From my point of view it comes along with a couple of good features:

1. It's cheap. It's about 20€, enough evidence that light trekking does not necessarily mean high pricing.
2. It's weight is just 48g with battery, 22g without it.
3. It uses 1x AA battery. I like using the rechargeable eneloop batteries.
4. Flood light range: 18m
5. Duration: 80hrs in flood-light low
6. 3 flood light modes, 1 additional signal mode

So I replaced my current headlamp with it and I'm more than satisfied after testing it for a couple of weeks now. And the result is: another 26g saved!

Downsizing the headlamp

EQUIPMENT IMPROVEMENTS - 3

Sewing skills do help. I sewed a case for my jackknife and ended up with just 30g for knife + case.

Jackknife case - sewing improves gear

EQUIPMENT IMPROVEMENTS - 2

This post is a good example of how...


a) you do not necessarily lose comfort by choosing light gear
b) useless it was to carry all this stuff with me.


The picture below shows my Master Hunter knife I took with me on the recent trips. I love it, it's a good knife, but it's heavy. 260g! And to be honest: when in presence does one have to kill a bear? Most of the time you just have to open food packages, cut salami or do small repairs. So right now I switched to a baladé jackknife. It comes along with just 22 (TWENTYTWO) g. That's cool. As you can see the blade length is okay to cover all my requirements. No decreased comfort - but less than factor 10 of the weight. I'll sew a case for it, but in sum it won't be more than 40g.


Secondly I switched to the Mammut S-Lite Headlamp. It's weight is 48g. There are lighter ones out there. But I wanted to have the chance to use standard AA batteries and to have enough power to use it as emergency signaling light. It gives you 80hrs of light in the lowest power mode by just using 1xAA.


So my savings are:

• knife: [260g > 40g] / 220g saved
• headlamp: [76g > 48g] / 28g saved

With my recent achievements I saved 2.508g so far.

Switching from a big (260g) to a small (22g) knife

JOTUNHEIMEN / EQUIPMENT IMPROVEMENTS

Okay. Also this year's tour to Jotunheimen was fun. But since we had a couple of trips up to now I realize what stupid things we did in terms of carrying useless stuff with us. Or in another way: we could hike light!
What I'm currently doing is to review the equipment list and search for weight improvements. In step one I'd like to just leave things at home or reduce / redesign stuff. For sure more weight can be saved by replacing the heavy weight gear like tent, sleeping bag, matress etc. But that'll cost and will be left for step 2. I'm looking for the easy achievements here.


Here is what i gained so far:

• belt: replace leather by self made belt strap [200g > 64g] / 136g saved
• sleeping pad: reduced size [156g > 68g] / 88g saved
• pillow case: leave at home [178g > 0g] / 178g saved
• sandals: leave at home [370g > 0g] / 370g saved
• second trouser: replace by long underware [600g > 100g] / 500g saved
• spats: leave at home [270g > 0g] / 270g saved
• towl: reduce size [100g > 60g] / 40g saved
• nasal spray: leave at home [34g > 0g] / 34 saved
• USB Handy Adapter: leave in the car [18g > 0g] / 18g saved
• torch: leave home and use headlamp [136g > 0g] / 136g saved
• Gorilla pod: leave at home [46g > 0g] / 46g saved
• emergency battery tank: leave in the car [188g > 0g] / 188g saved
• knife: use smaller one [260g > 68g] / 192g saved
• walking stick: just use one [512g > 256g] / 256g saved

Sum = 2.452g !!!

The simple rule was to leave stuff at home I never used so far and reduce some parts to their minimum size. So finally I do not lose too much comfort. Taking into account that a rough rule of thumb tells that 1 saved kg gains 1 additional km of way that's a great result. And I just spent 30€ for a new knife. It also shows nicely how small things sum up. And it is an inspiration to work on further improvements. It just does not make any sense to carry more gear than needed.

self sewed belt saves 136g

FALL

Fall is approaching slowly but spent us a beautiful day.

180 view on the Selker Noor

Audio:
 Selker Noor September 2011 (edit) by spinout 

HEIMREISE / TRIP HOME

Die Rückreise über die Autobahn und ohne Fähre verlief problemslos.

Was bleibt zu sagen: es hat sich gelohnt! Es ist ein Genuss in der Natur zu sein. Der Dank gilt meinem Seilpartner Alois, es passt einfach perfekt und macht Spaß!

Schauen wir mal was 2013 auf uns wartet.

The trip back via the highway was easy.

What is to say: it was worth it. Living in the nature is joy. I have to thank Alois, it simply fits and is fun.

Let’s see where we will be in 2013.

Living Outside

TAG 7 / DAY 7 BESSEGGEN

> please scroll down for the english version!

Ein weiteres geplantes Highlight war die Begehung des Besseggen Grates. Auch diesen mussten wir in 2009 aufgrund schlechten Wetters hinter uns lassen. Wir haben zwei gute Entscheidungen getroffen:

1.    Die Begehung von West nach Ost: in dieser Richtung steigt man den Grat hinauf was sich sicherer anfühlt 
2.    Die Begehung mit leichtem Gepäck als Tagestour: wir nahmen die Fähre von Gjendesheim nach Memurubu und steigen von dort in einer Tagestour auf. Zu schwerem Gepäck viel uns nur eines ein: unnötig! Wir wollten die Tour genießen.

Grundsätzlich ist das Passieren des Grates nicht schwierig, die Massen beweisen es. Es gibt ein, zwei Stellen an denen man aufpassen muss. Es liegt aber alles im Bereich des Machbaren.

Wir  hatten an diesem Tag traumhafte Bedingungen, die Sonne schien den ganzen Tag. So konnten wir die Passage und das wundervolle Panorama genießen. Es hat sich gelohnt, was für ein Krönender Abschluss!

View on the Besseggen ridge, direction Memurubu

Enjoying the panorama

View on the Besseggen Ridge, direction Gjendesheim

20110811 Bessegen

EveryTrail - Find trail maps for California and beyond

Another highlight was the passing of the Besseggen ridge. We couldn’t make it in 2009, due to bad weather conditions. We did two things right:

Firstly passing the ridge from west to east. That way one ascends the ridge which is a more secure feeling.

Secondly passing the ridge with just a daypack. By thinking of passing the ridge with heavy load we just needed two words: not necessary! We wanted to enjoy the tour.

Basically the passing isn’t too tricky. There are only a view steps were one needs to be careful.

We had perfect conditions that day. The sun was shining all the time. So we simply could enjoy the panorama. What a sight! It was worth it! A perfect finish.

TAG 6 / DAY 6 HELLERTJONNE > GJENDESHEIM

> please scroll down for the english version!

Weiter nach Gjendebu. Von dort wollten wir die Fähre zurück nach Gjendesheim nehmen. Die Fähre ging erst gegen 1630, was uns Zeit gab Pause zu machen und Spiegelein und Waffeln in der DNT Hütte zu genießen.

Nachdem wir in Gjendesheim angekommen waren richteten wir es uns auf einem Zeltplatz in der Nähe gemütlich in einer gemieteten Hütte ein. Das war eine gelungene Abwechslung. Nach ein paar Nächten behagen das Dach über dem Kopf, ein Bett und der Kamin.

Looking back to camp 4

Camp 5 ;-) near Gjendesheim

Continuing towards Gjendebu. From there we wanted to take the ferry back to Gjendesheim. The ferry was leaving at 0430pm which gave us plenty of time for a rest and eggs plus waffles at the DNT hostel. We enjoyed it.

After arriving at Gjendesheim we rented a hut very near. After spending a view nights in the wild this was comfortable. A bed, a roof and a warm fireplace have been more then welcome.

TAG 5 / Day 5 SPITERSTULEN > HELLERTJONNE

> please scroll down for the english version!

Der Weg von Spiterstulen nach Gjendebu führte über anspruchsvolles Gelände. Zunächst stiegen wir für mehrere Stunden eine Moränenfeld auf um dann gleichermaßen wieder abzusteigen. Wir kannten den Weg zwar, trotzdem mussten wir uns auf jeden Schritt konzentrieren. Die Steine waren vom leichten Nieselregen rutschig was uns in der Geschwindigkeit bremste.

Wir philosophierten über den Gebrauch der Walking Sticks. Viele Norweger sieht man ohne gehen, wenn in der Regel auch mit weniger Gepäck. Nach und nach probierten wir es auch. Und es ging gut. Gerade auf diesen rutschigen Steinen geben einem die Stöcker nur vermeintliche Sicherheit bevor sie dann in einer Felsspalte verschwinden. Bei einigen Abstiegen jedoch, auf weicherem Untergrund, mochten wir jedoch kaum auf sie verzichten.

On the way towards Gjendebu

Camp 4 at lake Hellertjonne

Wir schlugen das Camp 4 am Hellertjonne See auf.

20110809 Spiterstulen Richtung Memurubu

EveryTrail - Find trail maps for California and beyond

The way towards Gjendebu was tricky and exhausting. We had to ascend via rocky fields just for descending them afterwards. Though we knew the way we had to concentrate and take every step very carefully. The rocks were slippery caused by light rain. So that slowed us down a bit.

We started discussing about using the walking sticks. Some Norwegian guys do not use them at all. So we gave it a try and walked on without them. That worked out pretty well. In that terrain the stick disappeared between the rocks from time to time anyway what gave us an unsecure feeling. On muddy descends we still won’t miss them.

We set up camp 4 near the lake Hellertjonne.

TAG 4 / DAY 4 GLITTERHEIM > SPITERSTULEN

> please scroll down for the english version!

Der nächste Tag begann traumhaft – mit Sonnenschein zum Frühstück. Wir nutzen die Chance um das Equipment zu trocknen und neu zu verstauen. Gleichzeitig war es Zeit für ein ausführliches Bad.

Morning at camp 2

Getting our stuff clear

Danach machten wir uns auf den Weg nach Spiterstulen. Das Wetter war gut, die Stimmung auch, der Weg bekannt, alles prima. Gen Süden, über einen Grat, an Gletscherseen vorbei, ein Moränenfeld hinab und dann der Abstieg nach Spiterstulen.

Ascending a ridge

Camp 3 near Spiterstulen

Reindeer

 Kurz vor der DNT Hütte nutzten wir die Chance des vorhandenen Handyempfangs und telefonierten mit den Liebsten.

Nach einer weiteren Stunde erreichten wir unseren neuen Lagerplatz. Camp 3. Perfekt gelegen – zwischen Gletschern und direkt am Fluss. Der Abend war mild und ließ ein langes draußen sitzen zu.

20110808 Glitterheim nach Spiterstulen

EveryTrail - Find hiking trails in California and beyond

The next day started as best as itr could – we had sunshine for breakfast. We took the chance and dried our stuff and repacked it properly. Furthermore we took an extended bath.

After that we started towards Spiterstulen. The weather was nice, the mood high, we knew the way, perfect. We headed south, passed a ridge, then glacial lakes, and then descended.

Shortly before we reached the DNT hostel in Spiterstulen we took the chance and did a few phone calls. We had network coverage.

After another hour we set up camp 3. At a beautiful place between glaciers near a river. It was warm.

TAG 3 / DAY 3 GLITTERTINDEN

> please scroll down for the english version!

Der nächste Morgen war durchwachsen in Bezug auf das Wetter. Nach einiger Überlegung entschieden wir uns dennoch die Besteigung der Glitzerzinne in Angriff zu nehmen. Wenn es zu schlimm werden würde, würden wir halt umkehren. So machten wir uns nur mit einem leichten Daypack auf den Weg.

Camp 2 near Glitterheim

DNT hostel Glitterheim

 

Die ersten Meter führten durch einfaches, wenn auch steiniges Gelände – aber hatten wir wirklich etwas anderes erwartet!? Je höher wir aufstiegen desto schlechter wurde die Sicht. Glücklicherweise waren die vertrauten Steinhaufen mit dem roten T gut auszumachen. Guten Mutes stiegen wir weiter. Der Wind nahm langsam zu, trotzdem fühlten wir uns sicher.

Nach einiger Zeit stießen wir dann an die erwartete Nordflanke. Nun brauchten wir nur parallel zum, Grat weiter gen Westen zu steigen und müssten in Gipfelnähe kommen. Per Sicht war dieser nicht auszumachen, dafür waren die Bedingungen zu schlecht.

Approaching the summit

Northern ridge of the Glittertinden

Nun war es wirklich spannend. Der Wind hatte sich gut entfaltet, teilweise zerrte er dermaßen an uns, dass die Trittsicherheit nachließ. Trotzdem gingen wir weiter – langsam und vorsichtig. Bis wir an das Eisfeld stießen – das war die Kuppel – 2410m! Wir waren gute 50m unterhalb des Gipfels der 2464m hohen Zinne. Des zweithöchsten Berges Norwegens. An eine Gipfelbesteigung war ohne Steigeisen nicht zu denken, dazu war die Kuppel zu glatt gefroren.

Wir waren glücklich – hatte uns das Wetter doch im Jahre 2009 an einer Besteigung gehindert. Wir machten unser Gipfelfoto und begannen den Abstieg. Dieser war relativ schnell gemacht und so kamen wir nur wenige Stunden später glücklich und gesund in Camp 2 an. Alois und Xaver waren auf der Zinne!

On the next morning we had mixed conditions once again. We discussed a bit and finally decided to risk summiting the Glittertinden. We would at least try to come as far as we could.

The first part of the path was easy terrain though, of course, it was rocky. But that’s what we knew right!? By getting higher the sight was getting worse. At least we could still see the heaps of stones with the lovely red T which still led us the way. We were in a good mood so we decided to go on. The wind increased its force but we still felt comfortable and secure.

After a while we hit the awaited northern ridge. Now we had to turn west and “just” follow the ridge in secure distance. We still couldn’t see the summit, the sight was too bad.

Now it was getting more exiting. The wind had a good force now. From time to time we needed to stop to not be pushed away. We proceeded and after reaching a height of 2410m there was ice. This was the icy dome of the summit. We were just 50m below the summit of the 2464m high Glittertinden. The second highest mountain of Norway.

But summiting without crampons was out of the question. It was too icy and slippery.

We were happy. We tried the summit in 2009 but bad weather conditions gave us no chance. We took our photo and started descending. That was easy so we reached our camp just a view ours later, happily and securely. Alios and Xaver have been on the Glittertinden!